Circular facades for industrial buildings

With insulation not being embedded in sandwich panels, but tucked in coffer facades, the insulation and the facade finishing can be disassembled and adapted if needed. This approach will increase the value and adaptability of our buildings in the long run.

Where possible, we strive to use glass wool for insulation in our projects because it has a smaller environmental impact than PIR insulation. We’re currently investigating the use of bio-based insulation materials, as we think this might be a solution to lower the embodied carbon of buildings even more.

C-fast precast system: designed for disassembly

C-fast is our patented and innovative building system in precast concrete, with smart couplings for columns and prestressed floor slabs that are produced by C-concrete.

The major advantages of this system compared to the traditional methods are a much faster construction time and assembly (less than one week per floor), lower construction costs, and a modular design that allows for later adaptations and disassembly.

Not including fixed interior walls will allow for easier adaptations and repurposing of our buildings in the future, as the built-in flexibility can give a second or third life to buildings, without major demolitions.

C-fast is best suited for buildings with repetitive character like high-rise residential buildings, mixed-use or student housing.

The prestressed floors include the techniques and are smoothly finished with self-leveling concrete. Therefore no screed is necessary and the necessary additional material and drying time is avoided.

Producing prestressed elements demands for fast drying times and is mostly compensated by using solely CEM I cement which leads to elevated embodied carbon.

Currently, 25% of the cement used for the production of these elements at C-concrete is CEM III/A. In the future, we’re looking into reducing the embodied carbon of the C-fast system even more.

Impressions C-fast

Xior Totem (Hasselt), Kortrijk Businesspark, The Ensemble (Amsterdam), Construction process

Building passports to demonstrate circularity

As one of the first Belgian companies, we have incorporated Madaster to create building passports for our projects. By registering building materials on the platform, we can automatically create a unique building passport for each building.

This passport shows comprehensive information about the materials and products used, their impact on circularity and the environment, and the potential residual value they hold.

The (future) owner can use the passport to evaluate which materials could be reused at the End-Of-Life stage of the building.

With this transparent tool, we can evaluate the sustainability and suitability of certain materials and assess their impact on the building.

Our goal is to evaluate the impact of our new projects either with a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and/ or a building passport which is due at the end of a project.

Screenshot 2023-04-19 at 11-58-31 Vilvoorde alter MAD - Madaster

Best-practices

1000 m² plasterboards get a second life in project UBQ

For our client UBQ, Cordeel Nederland is converting an existing hall into a new factory in Bergen op Zoom. UBQ has developed a process to convert previously non-recyclable household waste into a bio-based thermoplastic composite as a replacement for fossil-based plastics and needed to expand their production.

We proactively analysed which materials could be reused in the project. In collaboration with our subcontractor Van de Wiel Complete Afbouw and the producer Knauf we chose for plasterboards.

Our impact was significant: we reused approximately 1,000 m² of plasterboards originating from renovations and cut to shape for a second life.

Multi – a showcase project to reuse materials

We are proud to have contributed to the redevelopment of Multi, a landmark located in the heart of Brussels. Our construction team strived for a BREEAM Excellent certification for the renovation project completed in 2022, with a strong focus on utilising recovered materials.

To achieve this, we repurposed the original Belgian blue stone and the terrace was laid with 400 recovered granite tiles. Moreover, we incorporated 1,300 metres of aluminium profiles from the Brouckère tower into the balustrades and light fittings of the renovated tower.

Imtech was responsible for the technical installations, and we also reused sanitary equipment. C-wood built the entry hall desk from reclaimed material.

We were inspired by our customers Whitewood & Immobel’s ambitious vision for this project, which pushed us to prioritise the use of reclaimed materials and circular construction.

hier tekst

Reuse of materials

Resources on the globe are not endless, and with so many existing buildings, it’s clear that we must find ways to conserve these resources. At Cordeel, we believe that buildings are material banks for the future. That’s why our goal is to create a material passport for every building with a BIM model by 2024.

Urban mining

Our ambition is to take advantage of every opportunity to dismantle materials before demolishing a building. We have several projects in the pipeline that we plan to utilise to ensure that any resources that hold value for us or other players in the market are salvaged rather than wasted. We believe material passports will play a key role in facilitating urban mining.

Managing our overstocks and returns

We also give a second life to materials that return from construction sites, which is another important source of materials for us. These materials may not have been used for their original purpose due to modified orders or excess inventory and, in the past, they would have been discarded. However, at the beginning of 2022, we established an internal platform to collect and offer these items to our fellow project leaders.

In 2023, we plan to adopt a unified approach to ensure that we use our resources in an efficient way without having to purchase new materials.

Collaboration

Without an adequate supply of reclaimed material, large-scale projects can’t happen. We recognize that there are several challenges involved in the reuse of materials, including logistical challenges and clients’ demands. However, we believe that these issues can be resolved, and we actively collaborate with various organisations and stakeholders to enhance our contribution. This includes partnering with material banks, municipalities and cities and other companies.

Cordeel Reports

Circular Design